the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, according to the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security the US government officials, including representatives from the Department of Homeland Security and US President Donald Trump, have confirmed that the Strategic National Stockpile (SNS) is running low on supplies and equipment. The SNS maintains inventory of a myriad of supplies and equipment—including pharmaceuticals, personal protective equipment (PPE), and ventilators—for rapid deployment during emergencies; however, it “was never…designed to fight a 50-state pandemic.” While products are being shipped to states and health systems directly from manufacturers and distributors in the commercial market, states are still struggling to obtain necessary supplies and equipment. There are numerous reports that states are bidding against each other, as well as foreign competitors, to secure materiel to support their response activities, and multiple governors have called on the federal government to provide additional support. The US government has reportedly shipped millions of pieces of equipment and other supplies nationwide, but it appears that the available inventory has been insufficient, and domestic production has not scaled up quickly enough to meet the existing demand. As the US epidemic continues to grow, so too, will the demand, which will inevitably place even more strain on existing resources.
